St. Paul man choked priest to death because voices told him to, charges say

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A St. Paul man is facing a murder charge after he allegedly choked a priest to death on the side of Interstate 94 on Thursday.

Court documents say Nathan Wondra, 32, said voices told him to kill 76-year-old Father Lawrence Johnson in order to save humanity. He was charged with second-degree murder on Friday.

According to the charges, Wondra called police around 12:40 p.m. A trooper found him on the shoulder of the road, with Johnson in the driver's seat. Johnson was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

During a post-Miranda interview, Wondra said he had met Johnson at his workplace about a year ago. Johnson would check in on Wondra, and they would have lunch together about once a month. Wondra said Johnson was like a father figure to him and their relationship was platonic, documents say.

Wondra said he had spent the night at Johnson's residence, and they went to mass that morning. He then asked Johnson to take him to the hospital, and said he had a weak moment — the voices in his head told him it was his last chance to save humanity, the charges state.

Wondra then asked Johnson to pull over, and he strangled Johnson, charges say. He then called 911.

Police spoke with Wondra's father, who said he had not noticed any mental health issues or recent changes to his son's behavior. He added, however, that Wondra had not been feeling well lately.

The Ramsey County Medical Examiner said Johnson's cause of death was strangulation, and his manner of death was a homicide.

--

If you are in crisis, help is available from the National Alliance on Mental Illness , or NAMI. Call the NAMI Helpline at 800-950-6264 or text "HelpLine" to 62640. There are more than 600 local NAMI organizations and affiliates across the country, many of which offer free support and education programs.